Second-annual ‘Global Creative Competition’ for medical students announced

MEdIC welcomes creative response submissions from medical students around the world on the theme of ‘global unity’.

After the success of last year’s competition, The Global Creative Competition will provide a platform for medical students from around the world to reflect creatively together on their personal or professional experiences for a second year. The 2021 competition centres on the theme of global unity and is open to current medical students from any university.

MEdIC, the Medical Education Innovation and Research Centre, is Imperial College London’s translational centre which uniquely brings together medical education, community needs and health policy into innovation and research that positively impact on society.

The 2020 competition saw more than 650 entries from 52 countries submitted on the theme of the COVID-19 pandemic. Director of MEdIC, Dr Sonia Kumar, and Tom Durley, Primary Care Executive Officer, immediately recognised its impact: “The written reflections really shone a light on the stories behind each entry, which were immensely powerful and humbling. They offered an incredible insight into the many obstacles students faced during the pandemic. We soon realised just how important it was to provide a global platform for this to take place again.”

The competition is unique in that it allows medical students, normally concerned with science, to reflect on their professional work in a different context.

“The competition celebrates the creative talents of medical students, but perhaps more importantly it’s a way of students connecting with each other across the world, sharing experiences and supporting one another on their journeys,” they explained.

For the 2021 competition, Dr Kumar and Mr Durley have expanded its scope by accepting submissions in a student’s preferred language, and are now accepting entries in music, short film, animation and spoken word. In another change, all entries will be judged under a single category. They said, “we hope this gives the opportunity for even more students to share their creative work with us, and the audience will decide on the final two winners and two runners up.”

Through the competition, Dr Kumar and Mr Durley hope that medical students will find new ways of connecting with each other.

“Providing medical students with these opportunities to come together across different time zones and cultures has been such a good way for students to share their stories and unite in shared and different experiences,” they explain.

How to submit an entry

The 2021 competition will accept entries in painting, drawing, sculpture, illustration, graphic art, comics, photography, textiles, short film, animation, music, spoken word, or any other similar medium.

Students are also asked to submit a companion written reflection of 200 words outlining how their submission reflects the theme and what it means to them on a personal level.

This year, entries and reflections can be made in a student’s preferred language, with an accompanying translation in English.

Two winners will receive the top prize of £300 and two runners-up will each receive £150. Winners and runners-up will be announced at an awards ceremony in October 2021.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, 31 August 2021.

For more details and to enter the competition, visit the competition website.